Bio-enhancer

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a bio-enhancing composition comprising a carbohydrate and saponin, preferably comprising yucca extract, for the acceleration of bacterial metabolism. This particularly useful in the acceleration of bacterial metabolism in the breakdown of organic waste. There is also provided a method of stimulating microorganism metabolism and the use of the composition for such stimulation.

The present invention relates to a bio-enhancer and more particularly anatural bio-enhancer for accelerating microbial metabolism.

In recent years the increased production and subsequent removal of wasteproducts has become of increasing concern, particularly with regard tothe damage caused to the environment both by the waste products and byattempts to dispose of them. Whilst much attention has been focused onwaste products from industry such as chemical plants and oil fields,increased production of more domestic waste products, such as sewage andfood, both from homes and catering establishments is also becoming aproblem.

Increased production of waste products such as grease and sewage has ledto several problems in various areas of the world. Such problems are theclogging of waste pipes causing such pipes to back up dangerously, theincrease in noxious odours from the waste outlets and build-up ofpotentially dangerous materials in collecting areas such as grease trapsand sewage holding tanks. There is a constant need for new means forsolving, or at least easing, such problems in a way that is not harmfulto the environment.

According to the present invention there is provided a bio-enhancingcomposition for stimulating the metabolism of a microorganism whichcomposition comprises carbohydrate and at least 0.01% by weight ofsaponin. Preferably the composition comprises yucca extract.

It is preferred that the composition has a Brix value of approximately 5to 30, preferably 10 to 20 and more preferably 15 to 18. It isparticularly preferred that yucca extract is obtained from theschidigera species of yucca. In a specific embodiment of the presentinvention the composition is used to accelerate bacterial metabolism andpreferably to accelerate bacterial metabolism in the degradation oforganic waste.

In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method ofstimulating the metabolism of a microorganism comprising contacting themicroorganism with a composition according to the present invention.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is providedthe use of a bio-enhancing composition according to the presentinvention for the stimulation of a metabolism of a microorganism.

Yucca extract, as used in the present invention, is produced by pressingthe trunk of a yucca plant. The liquid obtained directly from thispressing may be used, unchanged, in the present invention. The sugarvalues of the extract depend on the time of year of harvest of theplant. In the spring or wet season the sugar value is low whilst in theautumn or dry season, the sugar value is high. Yucca extracts taken atdifferent times of the year may be blended to give any specific Brixvalue.

It is particularly preferred that the species from which the yuccaextract is obtained is the yucca schidigera.

The composition of the present invention may be used to accelerate themetabolism of all microorganisms, notably bacteria. It may be used notonly in the acceleration of bacterial metabolism in degradation oforganic waste products but also in the acceleration of bacterialmetabolism used to degrade oil spills, in recycling plants, or invarious biotechnological applications. Other possible uses are incomposts, in the increased bacterial/microbial activity of contaminatedsoils, and in other environments which require increased bacterialactivity such as golf course turf, farmland, farmwater, ponds, waterhazards and potable water.

It is preferred that the yucca extract is not diluted so much as to takethe Brix value below 5 or concentrated so much as to take the Brix valueabove 30. It is particularly preferred that the Brix value be maintainedbetween 10 and 20 brix and the best results have been obtained with aBrix value of between 15 and 18.

It is thought that the saponin present in yucca, combined with therelatively high Brix value, may be the cause of the bacterialacceleration. Certainly the extracts from other plants containingsaponin, such as oranges, have been found to be ineffective as bacterialaccelerants.

It has been found that the composition of the present inventionincreases the respiration of the bacteria, causing increased carbondioxide production. This in turn allows bacteria to break down organicwaste more quickly and efficiently. A phenomenon that is observed as aresult of such an acceleration in the bacterial metabolism is that, inthe absence of oxygen, treated liquid containing organic waste shows amarked reduction in pH with time but that, in the presence of oxygen, asimilarly treated liquid will show an increase in pH with time, in thepresence of the composition of the present invention. This is explainedby the fact that, in anaerobic conditions, bacteria produce volatilefatty acids, lowering the pH whilst, in the presence of oxygen, bacteriaactually consume such volatile fatty acids as energy sources, so as toincrease the pH.

A preferred dosage is one part per million of yucca extract per volumeof treated sample.

The present invention will now be further described, by way of exampleonly, with reference to the following examples.

In the following examples, the yucca extract used was tested and shownto have the composition:

Lab Testing for Contents of Yucca Extract

TEST METHOD RESULT FAT AOAC 950.54 0.2% PROTEIN (N × 6.25) AOAC 992.230.8% ENERGY Atwater Method, 43 Kilo- USDA Handbook 74 cals/100 gCARBOHYDRATES Atwater Method 9.6% USDA Handbook 74 SAPONIFICATION VALUEAOCS Cd 3-25 30.9% SUCROSE AOAC 971.18 0.1% FRUCTOSE AOAC 971.18 2.2%ALPHA-GLUCOSE AOAC 971.18 1.4% BETA-GLUCOSE AOAC 971.18 0.6% LACTOSEAOAC 971.18 <0.1% TOTAL SUGARS AOAC 971.18 4.3%

The above lab test results can vary from sample to sample according toplant, growing area and growing conditions in the growing area. Becauseof the variances of the plants, these results should be taken as guidelines only.

EXAMPLE 1

The yucca extract was used in a busy restaurant for a period of threemonths. The correct dose of 4 oz was poured into a sink near a greasetrap, by a metering pump in doses of 0.5 ounces per application, using 8applications, evenly spread, for timing per day.

FIG. 1 shows the BOD₅ results taken from both the grease trap of therestaurant and a manhole outside the restaurant thus monitoring thesewage coming from the restaurant. BOD₅ is the biochemical oxygen demandover five days. It is a measure of the reduction of dissolved oxygen ina specific example of organic material over a five day period. A highfigure indicates a great deal of undigested organic material in thesample tested.

FIG. 2 shows the total suspended solids in samples taken from both thegrease trap and the outside manhole over the same three month period.

Both BOD₅ and total suspended solids were reduced significantly. Thiscould only have taken place as a result of an increase in the digestionrate of organic waste in the grease trap and in the sewer service lineleaving the restaurant. The reduction of total suspended solidsindicates that the digestion process was accelerated so as to removesuspended organic material from the effluent whilst the reduction inBOD₅ indicates a reduced need for oxygen to support the secondarydigestion activities of aerobic and facultative bacteria as a result ofthe greatly reduced volume of undigested organic waste in the affluent.

As can be seen from the results, the amount of organic waste reachingboth the grease trap and the sewer line decreased over the three monthperiod that the composition according to the present invention wasapplied to the sink. The results showed a 98% reduction in suspendedsolids in both the grease trap and the manhole whilst the oxygen demandwas reduced by 71% in the grease trap and 99% in the manhole, therebyshowing an extremely efficient degradation of the organic waste.

The noxious odours emitted from the grease trap and the manhole weresubstantially eliminated, thus benefiting both customers and staff ofthe restaurant. In this respect, the toxic fume production producingsuch noxious odours is reduced by the digestion of volatile fatty acidsby the bacteria, accelerated by the composition of the presentinvention.

The compositions according to the present invention, when usedregularly, clearly accelerate the breakdown of organic waste, not onlyin the environment immediately surrounding the restaurant, such as ingrease traps, but also in the sewer lines leading from the environmentsin which the composition is used. This causes acceleration of naturalbiodegradation of organic waste in the various sewerage pipes leadingfrom that environment, greatly reducing the build-up of such waste,combined with larger bodies, in the sewage pipes so as to reduce oreliminating clogging and damming of the pipes and thus backup of thepipe.

The compositions of the present invention act on all naturally occurringbacteria that feed on organic waste and are effective in the presence ofa variety of foodstuffs such as produce, beans and dough as well asgrease. A further secondary advantage is that the increase in bacterialactivity will increase the degradation of organic waste adhering to theinside of pipes carrying such waste thereby practically widening thepassage through which such waste may pass enabling loading peaks to passthrough the system more readily.

EXAMPLE 2

The composition according to the present invention was used in thetreatment of waste water in a sewage main to ascertain the effectivenessof the composition according to the present invention of the degradationof a wider variety of organic waste. The main chosen for this test ranfor 27.5 kilometers in a combination of force and gravity mains. Theforce main accounted for 12.5 kilometers and there were three pumpingstations with wet wells. There was also a large sewage tank and otherholding tanks from businesses pumped into the sewage main. Thecombination of these factors are ideal for anaerobic conditions leadingto high gas production and high BOD₅ causing serious problems in themanagement of such organic waste.

In this respect, a great deal of H₂S gas was entering the headworks ofthe waste water treatment plant. The gas was making the atmosphere veryacidic and causing extreme problems with the electronic circuitry in theplant control systems leading to failure of the system. The compositionof the present invention was added at the head of the sewer main runningto the waste water treatment plant headworks at the lift station whichwas at the beginning of the line at a daily addition.

The main was treated with a composition according to the presentinvention in daily doses of one part per million composition per volumeof effluent. The idea was to increase aerobic and facultative digestionso as to reduce the amount of H₂S arriving at the plant works which H₂Swas highly corrosive and caused a great deal of problems. Weekly samplesof the material passing through the regional through a pipeline weretaken between 1st December and 24th March. The application of thecomposition according to the present invention commenced on 12th Januaryand finished on 17th March. The results are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 WASTE WATER PIPE ANALYSIS Treatment of regional sewer pipeline:Start Jan 12: Stop Mar. 17 (BOD₅, TSS and H₂S results are mg/l) pH BOD₅TSS H₂S Dec. 1 7.83 127 64 2.00 Dec. 8 7.79 103 78 1.00 Dec. 15 7.71 8640 2.00 Dec. 22 7.81 103 96 0.80 Dec. 29 7.84 155 66 3.50 Jan. 5 7.79132 68 0.30 Jan. 12 7.77 85 64 0.20 Jan. 19 7.74 63 80 0.70 Jan. 29 7.7679 46 0.50 Feb. 2 7.69 97 34 0.00 Feb. 16 7.75 93 64 0.05 Feb. 23 7.7367 66 0.60 Mar. 3 7.72 103 54 0.60 Mar. 10 7.88 126 74 0.70 Mar. 17 7.75117 48 0.00 Mar. 24 7.74 86 64 0.80

As can be seen from the table, whilst the pH remained relativelyconstant, there was a general decrease in BOD₅ and in total suspendedsolids (TSS) and a significant decrease in H₂S production. FIG. 3clearly displays the changes in soluble H₂S content over the test periodshowing the decrease in H₂S levels. The average level of soluble H₂Sbefore treatment was 1.40 mg/l whilst the average level during treatmentwas 0.64 mg/l showing a reduction of 54%.

The initial BOD₅ demand was relatively low for raw sewage beforetreatment. However, the average BOD₅ before treatment was 113 mg/l andwas reduced, during treatment, to 94 mg/l, a somewhat surprising 17%reduction given the extremely low figure to start with. The apparentincrease in both BOD₅ and H₂S figures around the beginning of Marchcoincided with the pumping out of the sewage holding tank therebyincreasing the loading on the system.

Digestion of H₂S is a function of secondary digestion of organics wasteperformed by aerobic and facultative bacteria. Therefore the significantreduction of H₂S amounts showed the increase in digestion rate by suchbacteria, clearly caused by the addition of the compositions of thepresent invention.

It is clear that the compositions of the present invention, byaccelerating bacterial metabolism, caused increased degradation ofsewage and reduce the production of corrosive byproducts, notably H₂S.Those mains that suffer from H₂S production as a result of shallow gradeand very slow flow would also benefit from the addition of compositionsaccording to the present invention. Bacterial action, duly acceleratedwill help to suspend collected solids in the main and, by removingsolids from the relative section of pipe, the gas production from thestranded solids will be controlled.

EXAMPLE 3

One method of digesting organics in sewage or waste water is the use ofaerated cells. An aerated cell is a tank or cell that has compressed airblown into the sample located in the cell so as to increase thedissolved oxygen content, aiding the digestion of the sewage in anaerobic manner. This method, although more expensive than the moretraditional anaerobic method, has the advantage that the digestionprocess is accelerated and odours are reduced.

In the present example the composition of the present invention was usedduring the spring flushing of the sewer mains into the aerated cells.Cell 1, the main aerated cell, receives an increase of solids whichnormally causes an increase in BOD₅ of the effluent passing between thecells thereby causing a major increase in odours spreads into thesurrounding community causing great distress. The flushing process cantake several days. However, a suggested dosage amd timing would be 0.2parts per million over a 24 hour period.

Four aerated cells were treated for a period of five weeks with theyucca extract composition of the present invention. Table 2 shows thedata collected for each cell in respect of the BOD₅ of all cells. A plotof these results is shown in FIG. 4.

TABLE 2 AERATED CELLS TREATMENT Start Feb. 15; Stop Mar. 8 (BOD₅ RESULTSare mg/l) Cell 1 Cell 2 Cell 3 Cell 4 Feb. 15 105 54 17 11 Feb. 22 12859 18 11 Mar. 1 98 53 10 9 Mar. 8 68 65 14 11 Mar. 15 69 57 9 9 Mar. 2869 53 14 10

Whilst cell 1 showed a clear reduction in BOD₅ the results for cells 2to 4 are slightly more ambiguous.

It was found that, in cell 4, a great deal of algae bloomed. The extractof the present invention was used to attempt to increase the digestionrate in that cell given the large amount of algae. Whilst the amount ofalgae proved too much to deal with the BOD₅ was controlled to near 30mg/l without any improvement. It seems that, in order to control algae,immediate action is needed at the first signs of an outbreak so as toreduce the organic content and control the BOD₅.

The huge reduction in BOD₅ in cell 1 was thought to be because cell 1appeared to be near its design capacity whilst the other three cellswere operating well within their capacity and, therefore, appear to beoperating at a maximum efficiency.

It has also been found that it is best to apply the compositions of thepresent invention prior to mains flushing so as to reduce foamingproblems on the surface of the cells and to control the BOD₅ levels atthat time.

The decrease in BOD₅ shows the ability of the composition to the presentinvention to increase digestion rates. This allowed the odours from thecells to be kept under control during the flushing process.

In an alternative set of experiments, the composition of the presentinvention was used in an aerated lagoon system comprising three lagoons,linked to form a passage to a river, into which lagoons was pumpedeffluent. Each lagoon had a number of floating aerators thereon. Thesewage entered the first lagoon and then flowed through all threelagoons, becoming purified as it flowed, until the effluent flowing tothe river met environmental and safety standards.

By adding the composition of the present invention by means of ametering pump it was found that the breakdown of sewage was improvedsuch that several of the aerators were no longer needed and thus aconsiderable electricity saving was effected. It was further discoveredthat re-alignment of the aerators to control movement of the waterthrough the lagoons so as to maintain circulation of the waterthroughout each lagoon improved the digestion of the sewage even furtherby increasing the biological contact time with the sewage.

Using the composition of the present invention in the three lagoons, a95.5% removal of BOD5 and an 84.6% removal of total suspended solids waseffected.

The recommended doses of the composition of the present inventiondepends greatly upon the target environment. Because there are manyvariables that can be considered, such as loading of organic materials,flow rates and energy in the system, there is no specific dose that canbe recommended for all circumstances. However it is well within theunderstanding of a person skilled in the art as to the variablesinvolved and, therefore, the dosage rates that will be required toobtain an acceptable result. In many cases the composition according tothe present invention may be applied according to the volume of flowthrough the target environment and the dynamics present. A high flowthrough the target environment or high dynamics requires a lowerapplication rate to cause the required effect and the lower the volumeof flow/dynamics the greater the required application rate of thecomposition according to the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of stimulating the metabolism of amicroorganism comprising contacting a microorganism with a bioenhancingcomposition for the stimulation of a metabolism of a microorganism,which composition comprises a yucca extract, said yucca extractcomprising carbohydrate and at least 0.01% by weight of saponin, saidyucca extract having a Brix value of approximately 5 to 30, saidcomposition having a pH value in a range suitable for maintainingbacterial life, and thereby stimulating the metabolism of themicroorganism.
 2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the yuccaextract comprises yucca extract obtained from the schidigera species ofyucca.
 3. The method according to claim 1 wherein said yucca extract hasa Brix value of from 10 to
 20. 4. The method according to claim 3wherein said yucca extract has a Brix value of from 15 to
 18. 5. Themethod according to claim 1 wherein the method is for increasing thebreakdown of organic waste.
 6. The method according to claim 5 whereinthe organic waste comprises grease.
 7. The method according to claim 6wherein the organic waste comprises sewage.